Semi-Patriotic Spherical Objects and Elementally Configured Monsters
by Rainbow of Justice
Summary: So, in the span of a few minutes, I ended up leaving the town I haven't set foot outside of in half a year on some crazy errand for a professor in exchange for a pokemon. Along the way, I meet up with a girl who thinks she's in a fairy tale, the scariest brainiac in the region, and a music-obsessed womanizer. I guess that's just how life goes, huh? (Many OCs, fictional region)
1. The Beginning

_**Chapter 1: The Beginning**_

"Hello, and welcome to the world of Pokemon!"

_What the… where am I? _I was in a black void, but I could hear a voice calling out to me. I couldn't see where the voice was coming from, though. I couldn't see anything, in fact.

"My name is Professor Holly. Here, humans and pokemon live in harmony, each helping out the other. Some use pokemon as pets, while others, such as myself, have used them in our profession! In recent times, humans commanding pokemon, who are natural fighters, in battle has become a phenomenally popular sport. Soon, you too will be a pokemon trainer! Not only will you encounter many human friends, but many pokemon as well, who you will come to view as not only partners, but as almost your family. So, good luck!" With that, the voice faded, and I fell backwards until I suddenly hit…

The carpet?

_What the…_ I groaned as I lifted myself up to my bed._ Another of those dreams, huh?_ I had been having constant dreams of pokemon battling for a long time. Naturally, I took them as a sign that meant that I should get a pokemon, and soon. I mean, come on! I'm already 13, and a journey was the perfect way to explore the new region I've been living in for half a year already after moving from the Sevii Islands! Yeah, half a year, and I've never been outside this town. Mom's just overprotective. She always has been, but it accentuated after the "parting of ways" (read as: divorce).

After this mental rant, I looked over at my clock, seeing that it was almost time for breakfast. _Ooh, is that bacon I smell?_ I sniffed the air, realizing that my previous assumption was true. Therefor, I hopped out of bed, changed out of my pajamas, and went downstairs into the kitchen, where my mother was indeed cooking bacon, with the eggs already prepared, all white, no yellow.

"Mornin' Mom." She smiled.

"Good morning, sweetie. How'd you sleep?"

"Good. You?"

"I slept well. Breakfast is ready, but it looks like you already know that," she said, motioning toward the bacon in my mouth. I nodded.

"Ready and delicious." She smiled again, then snapping her fingers with a look of revelation on her face.

"Oh, that's right! the professor wanted to see you!" My eyes widened at this, and I almost choked on my bacon.

"Th-the professor?! See ME?!" Mom nodded before looking at the clock.

"And if you want to see her at a good time, you'd better get moving." I was out the door before she could finish her sentence.

"Wait, sweetie!" I came running back. She studied my clothes, looking up and down. At the time, I was wearing a black vest with yellow stripes to look a little like an ultra ball (but not weirdly so) a pink tee-shirt, standard blue jeans, and a red baseball cap with the top half of the pokeball insignia on it in white. She nodded in approval as I rushed out the door.

"ByeMomseeyoulaterloveyou!" Although I was long gone before she could react, I knew she was smiling.

As I half walked half ran through the streets of Kiiro Town, I wondered what on Earth the professor would want to see me for. Of course, the possibility of getting a pokemon was running through my head over and over at speeds that would make a Ninjask jealous, but I did my best to keep my hopes from getting too high. Then again, that was like telling a kid you had a present for him and thinking he won't wonder what it is.

_Augh! This place is like a maze! Just when I get used to it, they go and build something new!_ It was true, although I may have been over exaggerating the "maze" part. You see, the Niji region used to be just a bunch of tiny towns, much like Kiiro. Then, through some strange, inexplicable celestial error, or maybe through lots of advertising (what's the difference, really?), Niji's population has gone off the charts. Development is everywhere, and new buildings and technology are being created by the day. Even stuck here in Kiiro, I can see the "progress" we're making. And Kiiro's a small town! Who knows what kind of construction there'll be in the other cities? _If I ever get the chance to visit them, that is..._

After my second mental rant in far too short of a time to stop me from thinking that I might be going completely insane, I arrived at the lab, immediately walking in while trying to steady my nerves.

"H-hello, Professor Holly!" I called walking inside the only plot-relevant building in all of Kiiro. As she saw me, she smiled and adjusted her glasses, light flashing over them. Professor Holly was a young woman of maybe 30 years of age, with long (like, down to her calves long), auburn hair that became slightly wavy at the end, wearing a labcoat, blue blouse, and long black skirt. Despite the clearly visible bags under her eyes from many long, likely sleepless nights at the lab, anyone could see she was a beautiful lady.

"Ah, James. I'm glad you could make it." She walked over to a desk by the wall with various contraptions on it.

"I'm sure you're wondering why I asked you here today, so I'll cut right to the chase. I have a favor to ask of you, and I'm not going to lie, it's a big one. However, if you agree, I think it could beneficial to the both of us." I was getting pretty confused, and I guess it showed, because once she saw my face, the professor explained.

"This is what I'm talking about," she said while picking up a strange red device, small enough to fit inside my hand.

"The Pokedex!" she triumphantly exclaimed with great gusto, as though she had done it many times before.

"How long did you spend practicing that?" I asked with slight exasperation.

"A great many hours," she sighed. "But that's beside the point! This here is an electronic encyclopedia that automatically records the data of any pokemon you meet, and it records even more if you capture that pokemon!"

"How does it record more about a pokemon if you catch it?" She sighed again.

"Pokemon logic. But anyway, I want you to go on a journey and **catch 'em all!**

"I-I would, Professor, but I don't have a pokemon." At this, she smiled.  
"I did say it would be beneficial to the both of us, didn't I?" With that, she pulled a remote out of her lab coat and clicked a button, causing another table to rise out of the floor. On the table were… pokeballs! 18 of them! Seeing my shocked expression, the professor smirked.

"If you agree to try and complete the Pokedex, you can choose any of those pokeballs, each with a pokemon inside, of course, to help you on your _**DIVINE QUEST FOR JUSTICE! **_

...Either I'm going crazy, or there were just flames burning behind her for a moment instead of the lab as she said that. Wow, I really need an examination. But wait…

"Professor, why are there 18 pokeballs? I thought there were only three per region."

"Please, James, call me Holly. And to answer your question, I just got a shipment of all the standard starters from the other regions, as this one has yet to show any new species of pokemon. So you have your choice of any of them."

_Any starter…! _"W-wait, what about my mom? She'll never let me just go out on a random journey, as much as I'd like to." Holly smirked again.

'I've already consulted your mother; as long as you stay safe and go on the journey _**IN THE NAME OF SCIENCE**_, she fully supports the idea."  
_Again with the flames…_ "That's great!" I exclaimed, hardly believing what was happening. _After so long of waiting, I can finally get my first pokemon, and it can be __**any starter I want! **_As I walked up to the table, I started considering my options. _A water-type would be nice for crossing water eventually, but fire-types are always so strong… but then again, grass-types are so underrated… _To help show which 'ball was which 'mon, there was a 3d holographic image and information such as height, weight, and base stats. Eventually, I came to charmander. I stopped for no real reason and picked up the pokeball. Holly, who had been watching me the whole time, finally spoke up.

"So you choose Charmander, do you?" I considered the option.

_Well, Charmander's always been a classic. It's strong, trainable, and it eventually becomes a flying type, which could be really helpful…_ "Yeah… yeah, I think I do." Her eyebrows raised.

"Are you sure? It's a very big choice-"

"Yes, I'm sure." She regarded me with… disdain? Surprise? Fascination? Yeah, fascination sounds about right.

"When most people make such an important decision that quickly, I normally think they're reckless, foolish, or both. But you… well, let's just say I think you'll make a very interesting pokemon trainer. Oh, and here's your Trainer Card: I've already filled out the forms, so it's completely legal for you to have one."

"Wait, but don't you need to apply for one to the Pokemon League?"

"Normally, yes, but League-recognized Professors have the ability to simply hand out Trainer Cards." I was shocked that she would actually think highly enough of me to just give me one of these things that normally took months to obtain just like that, but of course, I was grateful. Although I wasn't quite sure what she meant by the "interesting trainer" bit, or even if that was a compliment or an insult, I thanked the professor, took the Pokedex, Trainer Card, and the Charmander who I intended to call out on the first route, and headed home to say goodbye to my mother for the last time in what I hoped wouldn't be too long.

"Mo-om! I'm back!" She smiled as she saw me, but it was difficult to tell, considering that she was facing away from me, reading on the couch. Still, when she next spoke, I could just _hear_ the smile in her voice. I walked to the couch parallel to her, sitting down to talk.

"Mom, you're really okay with me just up and leaving like this?" I asked with the most serious expression I could manage, which wasn't very serious considering how elated I was.

Her smile became a slightly disappointed expression.

"I thought you'd want to go, but if you don't that's fin-"

"No, no! I mean, yes! Wait, what? Oh, nevermind. Yes, I want to go! More than anything! But I don't want to leave you all alone…" She waved away the last words.

"Oh, it's fine. I know how much it means to you. And besides, all kids go on a journey eventually. It said so on the television." I sweatdropped.

_That's generally not a very reliable source…_ "Thanks, Mom. I'll be safe, and visit all the time once I get a flying pokemon, and I'll call you on a regular basis with the holotransciever*." She gave me the last smile of hers I would see for quite a while.

"I know you will, sweetie. Now go get packed, and take the pokemon world by storm!" I nodded, misty-eyed, and went up to my room, surveying it for memories on my journey.

It wasn't anything special. The yellow walls made a square, there was a bookshelf with very few books on it, many books scattered in other places, and my bed in a corner with a nightstand next to it. I took my logic-defying backpack, with clothes and basic supplies, like food and a couple of potions (not many, as I'd be able to get more soon once I beat a few trainers). _Mom must've already packed for me._ I take the bag, with the Pokedex in my left hand and Charmander's pokeball in my right, walk downstairs, and go to the door.

"I love you," I call to Mom before leaving.

"I love you too, sweetie." I heard happiness in her voice, but a great amount of thinly-veiled sadness too. I hesitated, then sighed. _I'll come back, Mom._ Then, I took a deep breath, and walked out the door. _Niji region, here I come! _

** Author's Note:**

**Welcome to my first fanfic, Semi-Patriotic Spherical Objects and Elementally Configured Monsters, or just O and M for short. Yes, the title really just means of pokeballs and pokemon: the balls are red and white, but don't have any blue, they're spherical (obviously), and the 'mon are categorized to each type, a.k.a. element. Yes, this will have LOTS and LOTS of OCs (should OCs be capitalized?).**

**The story takes place in a completely fictitious region of my own making, the Niji region (Niji means rainbow in japanese, and all the towns/cities are named after japanese colors). The entire pre-league story will take place here, and much of the post-league story. Post-league, however, there will be some canon characters introduced, but the main characters will still be my OCs.**

**I'll try not to focus too much on James (no, this is not Anime-James, he's my OC), but he is the main character. And yes, he talks to himself a lot. His thought are in italics. Soon, though, he will be joined by three traveling companions/friendly rivals. But worry not, he shall have a true, terrible, OMG-I-wanna-kill-this-douchebag rival, but he won't be a huge part of the story, or at least not until the end. Note: I may change the perspective in different chapters to third person or first person for his companions, but it'll usually James' POV.**

**Also, I will do my best to give the pokemon individual personalities. This could be rather difficult, however, as their trainers can't understand them (yet. *o*). And they don't have levels. Those are just Pokedex experience estimations. Therefor, although levels will be mentioned, they will likely not be exact, and just be terms like "overleveled" and "underleveled".**

**And of course, the moves. While I'll try and be as realistic as possible, I will probably make pokemon learn moves that I think they should learn for the sake of plot, such as Gyarados learning Fly.**

** Thanks for reading! If you liked it, please fav, follow, or review for more. Sayonara!**


	2. Ella

_**Chapter 2: Ella**_

In a couple of minutes, I got to the edge of Kiiro, looking out at the grassy route in front of me. My eyes narrowed._ This is it. My first route as a real trainer. Oh, that reminds me-!_ I tossed the pokeball in front of me, seeing it open, releasing a flash of white light.

"Go, Charmander!" The pokemon appeared from the light, looking around in confusion.

"Char? (Huh? Where am I?)" I leaned down to pet it… um… I checked my Pokedex. Him!

"Hey there. My name's James. I'm your new trainer! I promise I'll do my best to take care of you," I told the orange lizard. It looked up at me.

"Mander? (You're my trainer now?)" I smiled and gave a small laugh.

"I don't understand you, but I'll do my best to make out what you're trying to tell me. Oh!" I snapped my fingers.

"That's right!" As Charmander looked confused, I leaned down again.

"H-how'd you feel about me giving you a nickname?" Charmander seemed to think about it for a moment, before nodding.

"Char-mander!"

"Okay then, how about… Flare!" A shake of his head.

"Um… Furnace?" A pause for consideration, then another shake.

"Jebediah?" Now, you might not think a Charmander can deadpan, but I'm here to tell you that a Charmander can deadpan like no other creature alive or dead, except for maybe my mother. I cringed.

"O-okay, yeah, that wasn't such a good one. How about… Zander? it rhymes with Mander, and it'll still fit when you're a Charizard, 'cause it has a Z! He considered this, for longer than the others combined (not saying much), and finally nodded in agreement.

"Charmander! (I like it!)"

"Alright,You are henceforth known as Zander!" I pronounce with great satisfaction.

"Now, let's take on Route 1!"

Taking on the route turned out to be much easier than I expected. There was very little tall grass, and no trainers to be seen. I mentally groaned.

"Arceus, this route is pathetic! Sorry Zander, looks like it'll be longer than I thought for our first battle," I said to the pokeball. Suddenly, I heard a rustling behind me.

"Huh? Hey Zander, I think we're gonna get to-" I was cut off as someone dashed by me, grabbing- my Pokedex!

"H-hey! Give that back!" I yelled at the figure running away from me, and I started to give chase. As I looked closer (not easy to do when you're sprinting after someone), I could make out that it was most likely a man from body size. _Is he wearing…_ I blinked in confusion. _So, he's a thief... wearing a lab coat. That's strange. Huh, is that- someone else!_

"Girl in pink! Stop that guy!" The girl about 50 meters ahead of me, and maybe 30 in front of the thief, turned and looked confused for a moment, then understanding as the guy passed her. She quickly ran after him, and I did my best to catch up to her.

Once I reached her however, I saw her face as she started talking.

"Who is he? Do you know what's going on?" She hurriedly asked, keeping pace with me. Before I could gather my rampaging thoughts, I, being the incredibly talented, smooth, capable trainer I am, tripped down the ONLY FREAKING LEDGE ON THIS ENTIRE ROUTE, bringing the girl with me.

The two of us rolled down the most inconvenient cliff in history, eventually landing in a crumpled heap at the bottom.

"Owww… do you always try and kill the people who want to help you?" she asked, semi-jokingly.

"Damn it, he got away! Oh, and sorry. I was just… nevermind."

She got up, and dusted herself off. "It's fine. Did he take anything important?" I shake my head, still distracted.

"I-I don't think so." _**I feel like I'm forgetting something...**_

"Oh, well it's okay then. Still, we should probably alert the authorities in the next town." She offered her hand to me shook it after helping me up.

"It's nice to meet you. Well the meeting itself wasn't that nice, but whatever." She laughed.

"My name's Ella. Ella Fey." She had light blonde hair that was slightly wavy, blue eyes, and was a little shorter than me. She was wearing a light pink skirt that went outward at the end with white leggings underneath, pink and white shoes, and a pink headband. Overall, she looked like a lifesized barbie made out of skin, albeit slightly more dirty from our _valiant conflict with the land itself_ (read as: rolling down the hill).

I shook back. "James Lesterson." After introducing myself, I saw that she had pokeballs on a pink belt. "You're a trainer?" I asked. The girl, "Ella," nodded.

"I see that you are, too. You want a battle?" I quickly shook my head.

"Oh, no! I haven't even battled once! I just got Zander- uh, my Charmander." At this, she laughed again.

"Oh, don't worry. I'm actually an experienced trainer, but I'm redoing my training from square one. And you know, I could always just challenge you officially."*

"Well… alright. But don't expect me to be much of a challenge."

"Yes! I'm sure this'll be a battle to remember! Both of our first battles…" she trailed off, lost in thought with a dreamy expression.

"Wait, both of our first? I thought you were experienced." This seemed to snap her out of her stupor.

"Oh, I am! I meant my first battle in my… new regimen," she explained cheerfully. _Heck, everything about this girl is cheerful. _

"Let's go!" She shouted jovially but not without determination.

"R-right!"

**Author's Note:**

***While trainers often politely allow a declination, you legally have to accept a trainer's official challenge, lest your trainer license be removed, which is what lets you issue official challenges and challenge gyms/the league. You must be 10 or older to get a legal trainer license, but you don't need one to capture and train pokemon, explaining preschoolers.**

**P.S. A Xtransciever with the holographic capabilities of a holocaster.**

**Well, thanks for reading this, and I'll try and update soon. Bye!**


	3. First Battle!

_**Chapter 3: First Battle!**_

"Go, Zander!"

"Come on out, Luna!" A Cleffa popped out, doing a small dance before realizing that it was going to fight.

"You can take the first move, James."

"A-alright then! Zander, use Ember!" I called, having previously viewed Zander's moveset via Pokedex. The Charmander shot out a few tiny fireballs reminiscent of embers in the same general direction. Quickly responding to this, Ella shouted a command.

"Dodge it and use Pound!"

"Counter with Scratch, Zander!" The two pokemon hit hand against hand, neither one budging, but slowly tiring. Seeing this, Ella called out to her Cleffa.

"Jump back, Luna!" As the star-shaped fairy hopped backward quickly enough to not get scratched by Zander, Ella started giving instructions.

"The Charmander's Attack is higher than yours, so we can't get into another scuffle like that again, unless… that's it! Use Charm! Small pink hearts launched from the Cleffa at speeds Zander couldn't dodge. I knew that it had lowered his attack, although it didn't look like anything had happened. Zander was just looking at the hearts, wondering what the heck they did. _Well, Scratch is out._

"Ember, Zander!" Once again, the mini-fireballs shot out of the Charmander's mouth like flaming bullets, except probably far less effective. The Cleffa made an attempt to dodge, but failed miserably, getting hit square on by the attack.

"Luna, attack with Pound!" Ella commanded. I guess she expected me to tell Zander to use Scratch again, but I knew that Luna would overpower him, due to the Charm.

"Quick, Zander! Ember!" Right before Luna got close enough to Pound him, Zander used ember, knocking the Cleffa out.

Ella knelt down and recalled Luna.

"You did great." she told the pokemon, putting the pokeball on her belt.

"Well, James, congratulations on your first victory as a pokemon trainer!" I was shocked, but Zander was jumping and dancing around, clearly jubilant over not only his first fight, but his first victory. I eventually snapped out of my daze, and picked up Zander.

"Great job, buddy! Your first fight and you won!" I congratulated him, holding him up and hugging him.

"Char, Char! (I won, I won!)" Ella walked over.

"It was _your_ first fight too, Jamie. Zander might've been doing the proverbial heavy lifting, but a pokemon and its trainer work as a team. If you lose, it's a loss for the both of you. And if you win, it's a victory all around! Plus, while that's obviously a very naturally strong Charmander you've got there, you showed some real talent as a trainer." She regarded me with fascination, the same way Professor Holly had, while scratching Zander on the head.

"Th-thank you, but you were just going easy. Say, how strong were you before you started over?" Again, she laughed at my question.

"Oh, I'm nothing compared to some of the trainers you'll no doubt meet."

_This journey just got way more intimidating._

"Well, I should probably get going if I want to get to the next town before it gets too late," I tell Ella.

"Oh, are you going to Daidaiiro?" she asked

"Die die hero?"

"No, Daidaiiro. Just take out the H noise and you've got it."

"Uh, where's that?" She looked at me in surprise.  
"Don't you have a Town Map?" Embarrassed, I shook my head. She sighed.

"Right, keep forgetting you're a rookie."  
"Um, th-thanks?"

"Fortunately for you, I happen to have two, for a situation like this. Here you go!" She took something out of her royal blue backpack and handed it to me: a small, square electronic device that turned on when I flipped it open, showing a map of all the towns and cities of the Niji region. I could tell it was in good condition, and was probably very expensive.

"I-I can't just accept this!" I protested, and held it out to give back to her, but she just pushed my hand toward me.

"Of course you can! Didn't I tell you that I had a second one for _this exact kind of situation_? Just consider it a victory prize."

"But the prize money is automatically transferred to my trainer card*1..."

"Then think of it as a congratulatory gift."

"But-"

"OMYARCEUS, _**JUST TAKE IT!**_" Scarred for all eternity and fearing for my life, I took the town map and put it in the "important" section if my backpack. Satisfied, Ella nodded.

"Anyway, Daidaiiro's the next town. There's no gym, but there's a Pokemon Center. That's where I'm going, and if you started in Kiiro, that's where you'll probably want to go," she explained.

So, the two of us started on our way to Daidaiiro.

"Hey! I've got a great idea!" Ella cheered.

"What is it?" I asked, slightly concerned.

"Oh, don't look so scared! Why don't we become traveling partners? They say two heads are better than one, and this is doubly true with heads like ours!"

"And humble, too," I muttered.

"WHAT WAS THAT?"  
"N-nothing! Well, if you really want to, that'd be fine with me. But I wouldn't want to hold you back…"

"Hold me back? You just beat me! I might be more experienced, but right now, you're stronger than me! Well, in a one on one, anyway. I've got two pokemon."*2

"I-I guess so…"

"It's settled, then!" Ella exclaimed.

"You're my new traveling partner!" she said as she punched the air in triumph.

"Come on, partner! We gotta make it to the next town!" she yelled, dragging me along behind her.

_Arceus…_

_What've I gotten myself into?_

**Author's Note: Yes, Ella is one of the traveling partners I mentioned before. No, she is not and will never become James's Green-esque rival. Not even a Serena-esque friendly rival; that spot is reserved for someone else. But don't worry, she'll be a biiiiiiig part of the story.**

***1 Trainers use their trainer cards as credit cards, essentially.**

***2 Trainers, when challenging one another, can decide how many pokemon to use, or they could just use all of the pokemon they have with them. For example, James and Ella had a 1 on 1 because James only had one pokemon while Ella had two. But if they had so agreed, they could've used all the pokemon they had with them, and Ella likely would've won, as she has more than one. **

** Thanks for reading! Sayonara!**


	4. Daidaiiro, the most boring place EVER

_**Chapter 4: Daidaiiro, the most boring place in the world, home of the Trollceptionist**_

As we walked to Daidaiiro, we talked about future teams.

"I really have no clue what I'd like," I told my new companion. "Any Pokemon that I feel a strong attraction to, I guess. That's how I got Zander, after all." Ella nodded.

"I feel the same, but I have way less options. I'm a Fairy type specialist, by the way."

"Oh? What other pokemon do you have right now?" I asked. She just winked and said

"You'll see." I wanted to ask more, but was cut off by her.

"Hey, look! We're here!" The term "here" was technically correct, but in all honesty, we weren't, really.

The town was the definition of the "middle of nowhere." There was nothing interesting. Like, at all. Even boring old Kiiro had the lab, but this place had nothing. There actually was something incredible about the town: the lack of any and everything interesting. At all. Really, it sort of boggled the mind. It was so… boring.

_Wow, I never thought there would be a time I was happy to live in Kiiro. But now, I realize that I never would've met Professor Holly, and therefor never would've gotten the chance to go on this journey. Also, I can just be glad Mom didn't choose to move _here_. I had a lot of free time back in Kirro, but that boring old village was Lumiose compared to Daidaiiro. I feel sorry for the people who live here…_

"Why is it so _empt_y here?" I asked Ella, only to have her giggle in response.

"It's not _that _boring. Besides, the people are nice, and there's a Pokemon Center right over there." She ponted through a gap between two plain, single story, white houses with white picket fences and perfectly trimmed lawns. Even the smoke from the chimneys was identical. _This place is getting creepy…_ I thought as we walked to the PC*1. All of a sudden, Ella stopped, looking like she had just remembered something.

"I-I have to go! I'll meet up with you at the PC! Bye!" And with that, she ran off, out of my sight. _What's going on with her? I'll have to talk to my new traveling partner later… _

At the PC, the first thing I noticed was the lack of people. The only ones in the building that I could see were me and a strange woman at the desk-table-thing directly in front of me, who had pink hair. _There are probably no trainers here, considering how boring this town is._ I walked up to the receptionist. Before I could say anything, she cut me off as my mouth started to open.

"Hello, and welcome to the Pokemon Center. Would you like us to heal your Pokemon?" she asked in the happiest and most monotonous voice possible. "U-um, sure."

"All right then, I'll take your pokemon for a few seconds." I held out Zander's ball for her to take, and she swept it away, placing it in the healing machine. Strange flashing lights quickly appeared on the pokeball, causing me to jump in surprise. I immediately felt foolish, as I knew it was just healing my pokemon. After just a few seconds, the lights stopped, and the receptionist took my first and currently only pokemon off the machine and handed it back to me, then bowed slightly.

"Thank you for waiting," she said, once again in a voice that was practically a robot. "We've restored your pokemon to full health. We hope to see you again!" I walked to the PM*2 section of the PC and suddenly remembered that I, and Ella, once she came back, would need a room for the night, so I walked back to the receptionist desk.

"Um, Miss… receptionist, could I-"

"Hello, and welcome to the Pokemon Center. Would you like us to heal your Pokemon?" she said, cutting me off.

"No, I'd like-"

"We hope to see you again!"

"Look, lady, I-"

"Hello, and welcome to the Pokemon Center. Would you like us to heal your Pokemon?"

"No! I need-"

"We hope to see you again!"

"Oh my Arceus, I need freaking-" Before I could yell at the trol- I mean, receptionist, I was cut off AGAIN, but this time by a familiar voice.

"Hey James! I'm back!" Ella exclaimed. "Um, are you yelling at the receptionist?"

"YES!" Ella covered her mouth with her hand. For a minute, I thought she was appalled, but I then realized that she was trying, and failing, to hold in laughter. Then, not able to stand it anymore, she collapsed on the conveniently placed couch, guffawing in a very unladylike manner. Naturally, I was confused at this.

"What? WHAT?!" She slowly recovered, sitting up.

"J-Jamie," she started, after calming down enough to speak. "You know she's a robot, right?" I froze, too shocked to say anything. I guess my expression must've been priceless, because Ella started up laughing harder than ever. Getting slightly annoyed, but mostly at myself for not seeing it earlier, I waited it out until Ella was finally able to form comprehensible sentences again.

"Ella, how do we get a room for the night?"  
"Oh, you just use the clipboard right in front of the receptionist."

"Oh, that's easy." After hearing this, I walked up and signed the two of us in. After we stepped through a door to the left of the receptionist leading to a hallway with various other doors, we chose a room at random after seeing that the rooms were all the same.

"Hey, I'm gonna take a shower," Ella told me after we stepped in, walking toward the the bathroom.

"'Kay. I'll take one tomorrow morning, so you can take as long as you want. She nodded in appreciation. I put my backpack at the foot of one of the two small, but comfortable looking beds and started brushing my teeth and taking out my contact lenses, neither of which was an easy feat without a sink. Of course, there was a sink, but it was in the bathroom Ella was showering in. _Oh no… images, get out of my head! May you rot in the Distortion World, ye accursed overactive imagination! _I shuddered at the thoughts. Trying to take my mind off it, I changed and called out Zander in hopes of getting to know the little guy better.

After about a half hour of playing and bonding in which I learned that he was basically me in Charmander form, Ella knocked on the bathroom door from the inside.

"Hey, you decent?" she asked, her voice muffled by the door. "You're not one of those guys who just sleeps in boxers, right?

"It's fine, you can come out." The door opened, and Ella came out in her pink (of course) pajamas, her blonde hair still wet. However, she was still covering her eyes with a hand.

"That doesn't answer my question." she stated. I sighed.

"I am fully clothed in standard nocturnal apparel."

"Oh, okay then!" she uncovered her eyes and hopped onto the empty bed with her backpack at the foot. "I was a little worried I was gonna be stuck traveling with one of _those_ guys, you know? Oh, you two were bonding?" she asked, noticing Zander. "That's always a good thing."

"Yeah, but I think we're both pretty tired." Zander and I yawned at the same time, and I couldn't tell if he did it on purpose or not. "Gonna hit the hay, lil' buddy?" He nodded in response. "Yeah, me too. What about you, Ella?"

"Yeah, better wake up pretty early tomorrow if we want to get to the next city."

"Oh, finally a city instead of a boring little town? Thank Arceus."

"Yeah, and it's a pretty awesome one too. Say, you don't mind if I call you Jamie, do you?"

"Hmm… actually, I think I like Jamie better than James. So please do. But for now, sleep."

"Sounds good. G'night- _partner. _

I smiled. "Night...Elle."*3

**Author's note:**

***1 The Pokemon Center is referred to as the PC commonly. When talking about the computer that stores pokemon, it will be called the PSS. No, that doesn't mean Player Search System, it means Pokemon Storage System.**

** *2 The PokeMart section of the PC is called the PM for short.**

***3 Ella's new nickname is pronounced exactly the same as the letter L.**

**As always, thanks for reading! If you enjoyed reading this, review, follow, or favorite. If you didn't, then… just do whatever. I'm probably gonna keep writing this fic one way or another, so I really don't care what you do, unless you flame mindlessly. That'll just get annoying. But I will care if you review, fav, or follow. Care... in a good way. Okay, I'm done for now. Sayonara!**


	5. Dagan, the strongest of the weakest

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. This applies to all chapters of this story.

_**Chapter 5: Dagan, the strongest of the weakest**_

The next morning, I woke up, for once having had no strange dreams the night before. As I groggily sat up and checked the time (6:30), and decided to shower before Ella woke up. After feeling the hot water pounding m back, I started wondering where Ella went earlier, and resolved to ask her about it when she woke up. _But what if it was a personal problem? Maybe a family member is sick, or maybe… __**maybe it's **_**that time of the month**- _no! Stop! Stop thinking, dammit! __**We both know that'll never happen.**__ I can't believe I'm arguing with myself. Do other people have this problem? __**No, you just have no self control. **__That's not very nice. __**It wasn't exactly meant to be a compliment, was it now?**_

After I finished, I got out, brushed my teeth, and put clothes*1 on. With perfect timing, I heard Ella waking up, the blankets on her bed making a rustling noise.

"Huh? Are you awake already, Jamie?"

"Yeah, just showered. Sorry if I woke you up."

"No, it's fine. I need to get up anyway."

After Ella changed (in the bathroom, you perverts!), we checked out of the room with the clipboard. It took all my willpower, which isn't a lot, according to myself, to not yell at the trollceptionist, but I somehow managed. At the same time, Ella was buying supplies at the PM, readying us for the next route.

"Hey Jamie, how many potions do you have?"

"Um… none?"

"WHAT? You need potions for healing your pokemon outside of battle!*2

"Sorry, I'm still new at this!" I protested. Ella sighed.

"As you keep displaying. Alright, I'll just buy some for the both of us." Although I was going to politely decline, I still remember her face when she "gave" (read as: forced upon) me the Town Map, and I was in no hurry to see it again.

As we walked out, I was trying to decide whether to ask her where she was or not. _She might need my help with something… __**Oh come on. She's a strong, capable trainer, while you're still a rookie. What the hell could **_**you**_** do to help **_**her**_**? **__Well, maybe she needs moral support if it's a family issue!__** She met you yesterday. She no doubt has people she trusts far more than you. I still think it's "that time of-" **__Didn't I tell you to stop thinking like that?! __**Did you actually think I would listen? Pfft, what a loser. **__You realize that you're calling yourself a loser too, right? __**Oh, come on. We might technically be the same person, but have you ever met two people who are more different than us? **__...Touche._

"Hey, Jamie, ready to go?"

"O-oh, yeah!" _I guess I won't…_

"Hey, you okay? You seem to be spacing out a lot of the time."

"E-eh?! When did you see me spacing out?"

"Lots. And you wouldn't exactly notice that I noticed you, as you were spacing out." She was laughing slightly as she said this, while I was just bemused.

"Oh. Sorry then." She waved away my apology.

"It's fine. Come on, let's get to Route 2!"

Fortunately, Daidaiiro was a small town, so we didn't have to travel far through this hellhole of monotony and ubiquitosity.*2 Still, the place was just so creepy and so boring, and so creepy, and.. okay, I'll stop now. Anyway, even three and a half steps in this place would've been four steps too many.

Finally, we reached the end of Daidaiiro, and were looking out over Route 2. It was very similar to Route 1: mostly just a single dirt path with some grass on the sides. However, this Route had some actual tall grass, trainers, and trees, which were three very important things the previous Route didn't have. _Then again, does this Route have thieves who don't take anything important and strange girls who instantly decide to travel with you? I sure as hell hope not._

We walked out of that terrible place and started on the Route. I even got challenged by a trainer! AND WON! Wow, if I get that excited after winning a simple battle with a novice trainer, I wonder what I'll do if I win against the Champion… Wait, Champion?! Do I really want to be the Champion? _Well, yeah it's the dream of every trainer. But then again, there are so many trainers stronger than me. The chances are- No! I can't think like that! I have to believe in myself! And besides, that's a long way off. For now, I'll just focus on training up my team. Speaking of my team, I wonder if I need another pokemon other than Zander. Hmm…_

"Hey, Ella." She looked at me in surprise

"Huh? What?"

I smirked. "And you think I space out a lot."

She sighed contentedly. "Sorry, it's just… so many memories."

"Yeah, this must all feel like deja-vu to you, huh?"

"I guess, but this time I've got a traveling partner! So, what did you want to ask?"

"Oh!" I said, remembering my question. "Do you think I should get another pokemon for my team?" She considered it.

"Well, you're definitely going to need more than one pokemon to take on the Gym Leader of the next city."

"Hmm… Alright then!" I said to Zander's pokeball.*3 "Let's go catch a new pokemon!"

I started looking around in the tall grass for any wild 'mon, but to no avail. I couldn't even find a Rattata! _Wait, did I just hear… Yes!_ I immediately ran through the grass to where I heard the rustling, and encountered… a Bunnelby!

"Let's go, Zander! Time to catch us a new teammate!"

After a quick fight, we had caught the pokemon.

"Mander mander! (Yeah! We did it)!"

"YES!" I exclaimed while picking up the pokeball. "I CAUGHT A BUNNELBY!" I raised the ball truimphantly over my head, too ecstatic to even notice that Ella was trying to talk to me.

"Hey, Jamie! Did the battle make you deaf?" Finally, I noticed that she was trying to talk to me.

"Huh? You say something, Elle?" She raised an eyebrow smiling.

"Uh, you know about Bunnelby, right?"

"Huh? What should I know?" She sighed, as though she was preparing to give me bad news.

"Bunnelby is known as one of the weakest pokemon. Even its evolution, Diggersby, is generally regarded as an oversize magikarp, albeit with a better better movepool. Are you sure you want one on your team?" Now, you may not know this about me, and I might not seem it what with all the stuttering, but I'm incredibly stubborn. If someone tells me I can't do something, even if I wouldn't do it normally, I'll do it. In fact, even if I _couldn't _ do it otherwise (as in unable to), I'd get better until I could do it better than they could ever hope to, just to spite them. Although it makes me do things that probably aren't a very good idea, it can be pretty helpful on occasion. Unfortunately, this was one of the former effects of stubbornness.

"No way! All pokemon are strong in their own way! In fact, I'll prove it! I'll make this Bunnelby strong! I…" She waved a hand in front of my face, noticing that I had spaced out.

"Hey, in there?" I shook myself out of the trance, but continuing to stare at… a tree.

"That tree… it's perfect." I whispered.

"Copper, hat are you talking about? What's so special about-

"I MUST CLIMB IT! HOLD MY BALLS!" I shoved my pokeballs with Zander and my new Bunnelby into her hands. The blonde simply blinked.

"That exclamation confused me on so many levels." But I didn't even hear her, as I was too busy climbing the "perfect tree." Once I reached the top, I looked down seeing that Ella was looking for me through the branches, but thought I was still at the middle of the tree, not the top yet.

"Hey, Ella!" I waved down at her. She heard my voice and tried to find the source, but still didn't look at the top.

"Up at the top, Elle." She looked up, and jumped in surprise once she finally saw me.

"Arceus, Jamie! Get down from there! You're almost 20 feet off the ground!" Looking down I realized that she was right.  
"It's fine! I made it to the top, so now I'll just come down!" I shouted so she could hear me.

"Be CAREFUL, Arceus dammit!" I internally sighed. _Girls._ About half the way down, I felt a branch break under my feet. _Uh oh. _Before I could even realize what had happened, I was being bombarded by angry branches that seemed to be out for my blood, and then felt a powerful impact on my back.

"OH MY ARCEUS! JAMIE, ARE YOU ALRIGHT?!" I groaned, but still answered.

"Of course I am. My eardrums hurt worse than my back." I smiled sheepishly, still recovering from the impact, which wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. "Sorry if I scared you." Although the blonde sighed and looked angry at me for worrying her, I could tell she was relieved that I was okay.

"I TOLD you to be CAREFUL!" I winced at her (very loud) voice.

"Yeah, sorry. But I'm fine! See?" To prove my point I stood up, albeit shakily. "I've taken some far worse falls than _that_." At this she looked incredulously at me.

"How is your back not broken yet?" I laughed, already fine.

"Pure rainbow power. Besides, I climb trees a _lot_, so I've learned how to fall well by instinct." Finally calming down, Ella nodded.

"And you told me to 'hold your balls' while you climbed the tree." By this point I was blushing a brilliant magenta.

"L-let's just get on with the route, huh?" I asked, trying to change the conversation topic as I took my pokeballs back. Ella looked like she wanted to continue, but stopped to be nice (or maybe to reserve ammunition for later teasing, I'm not entirely sure).

"So, what're you gonna name your Bunnelby?"

"Ah! I completely forgot to give him a nickname! I think it's a him, anyway, and I don't really have a better way of checking at this point, sooo…" After pondering for a while. I grinned at the pokeball with my- no, _our_ new teammate in it.

"I'll name him Dagan."

**Author's Note:**

***1: the reason trainers can wear the same clothes day after day is that they have self cleaning technology. If you don't wear them overnight, they clean themselves. I have no clue how. This means that trainers (or anyone, really) only needs two pairs of clothes: one for traveling, and one for sleeping.**

***2: Trainers cannot use potions in battle, but they can outside of battle.**

***3: Pokemon can hear you through their pokeballs.**

***4: Bags are endless. Because Pokemon Logic. **

**Thanks for reading! If you liked it, fav, follow, and/or review. Once again, if not, whatever. Bye!**


	6. Nick

_**Chapter 6: Nick**_

Ella nodded.

"Provided that it's a boy, that's actually a pretty good name. Sounds like "dig," which is fitting, as it evolves into a Ground-type." I agreed, but was'n't really listening, because I was already looking for pokemon to fight to train up Dagan after I healed him. Ella pointed out that we should try and get to the city as fast as possible, so I began training as we continued on our way to the first city. There weren't many trainers, but Ella and I got a good amount of training in, and even had a double battle when we saw a pair of twins. By the time we made it to the city, Dagan was already about Zander's level, and Ella's two pokemon had gained some good experience too.

I saw the forest ahead of us and blanched.

"Ella, why are there windmills? ON THE TREES?!" She giggled in response to my shock.

"Well, the winds are stronger up there. It makes sense, even if it looks a little… eccentric." Although I was still surprised that there were **windmills on trees**, we continued onward until we made to the edge of the forest, where Ella spread her hands dramatically.

"Welcome to Midori City!" As if on cue, several Taillow and Starly flew out of the omnipresent trees that essentially made up the city. When I looked closer, I realized that the buildings were actually made up of enormous trees, all of which had windmills on top of them. The largest tree in the middle of the city made up the Gym. _I wonder what type specialist the Gym Leader is? _

"Hey, Ella. What type does the Gym Leader specialize in?" I asked.

"I don't really know," she responded. "He's a really new Leader, and I haven't fought him. I think he replaced the old one, a nice old woman named Levy. She lives in Daidaiiro now, so next time we go there, we should visit her. I shivered in remembrance of the town.

"If I go there in 6 trillion years and a night*, it'll be too soon."

"Aw, c'mon. It wasn't _that_ bad."

"**Yes it was**." As we talked, we slowly made our way to the Gym, planning to take down the Gym trainers before the Leader him/herself. Unfortunately, I wasn't quite paying attention to where I was walking, and so I ran straight into someone, knocking us both down.

"Oww… oh! Sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going." As I got up, I got a good look at the person I ran into: a rather short guy, about my age, with longish auburn hair with a small ahoge, about the same shade as professor Holly's. He was wearing a blue jacket with yellow at the ends of the sleeves and light blue jeans.

"Hey! Watch it!" he yelled, clearly pissed off.

"Okay, okay, sorry…"

"Humph, you better be." He looked surprised as he saw the pokeballs on our belts. "Don't tell me you two are thinking of challenging the Gym," he deadpanned. Ella looked pretty mad, too.

"So what if we are!" the blonde yelled, making it more of a statement than a question. The guy irrationally started laughing.

"You two'll never beat the Gym, I can see that already." Again, my stubbornness made me act without thinking.

"Oh, yeah? Well if we don't have a chance, there's no way you can!" I exclaimed, causing his eyes to narrow.

"Oh, we'll see about that," the auburnette promised. "But first, what's your name?"

"Jamie," I told him through clenched teeth.

"Alright then, _Jamie_." he said my name more like an insult. "My name's Nick, and I challenge you to an official two-on-two pokemon battle!"  
"You're on! Let's go, Dagan!" I shouted, calling out the Bunnelby. Before this "Nick" guy could even send out his pokemon, he was already laughing like Ella was when I yelled at the Trollceptionist.

"A-a Bunnelby," he said, wiping a tear of laughter from his eye. "You must be even more pathetic of a trainer than I thought!" Dagan had clearly gotten fed up with people referring to its species as weak. It growled while Nick finally got over his laughing fit.

"You must _really_ want to lose this battle. Go, Mudkip!" He called out the small, blue pokemon, already thrusting out his hand. "Go, use Water Gun!" The Mudkip shot out a stream of high pressure water from its mouth, hitting Dagan and knocking him down. My eyes widened as I realized how strong the Mudkip was. _He's far stronger than the trainers on Route 2. Although I have faith in Dagan and Zander, this could be tough._

"Dagan, use Leer!" The Digging pokemon shot a look of pure intimidation at the poor Mud Fish pokemon, lowering its Defense. "Now, use Quick Attack!" Dagan zigzagged towards the Water-type with blinding speed and tackled it head on, knocking it backward.

"Mudkip, use Mud-Slap!" Nick called out.

"Counter with your own Mud-Slap, Dagan!" Although I knew that Mudkip had high Attack, and I was worried that the Mudkip would overpower Dagan, the Bunnelby's mud-covered earm simply knocked aside the blue pokemon's paw/hand/fin(?) and struck it with surprising force. While shocked, I cheered for my pokemon as it looked up at Nick as if to say "Still think I'm weak, BIYATCH?" Yeah, I envision my Bunnelby's voice strangely. Don't judge me. Anyway, although Nick was shocked that his Mudkip could lose in a simple clash of the same attack with a _Bunnelby_, he simply called out for a Water Gun. The Mudkip was all too happy to comply, wanting payback for the humiliation of being beaten by one of the so-called "weakest pokemon."

"Dagan, dodge and get up close with Quick Attack, then finish it with Double Slap!" Dagan zigzagged once more, this time moving away from the Water Gun, although stil getting grazed, and going straight around the Mudkip, then hitting it with its earms once… twice… thrice… four times! After the fourth hit, the Mudkip went sprawling along the forest floor, defeated.

"Tch! Return, Mudkip." He looked even angrier than before, but seemed to be hiding shock. Not surprising, considering that his starter, or so I presumed, was defeated by a Bunnelby.

"Yeah! Great job, Dagan. Take a nice rest." I recalled him, looking at Nick. "Want another round?"

"Damn straight! Go, Magnemite!" _ Magnemite?! _The pokemon came out of the ball, floating around aimlessly for a moment before locking its eye onto me, waiting for me to call out my next pokemon. Wordlessly, I tossed Zander's ball into the air. A the pokemon came down, he must've noticed that my eyes were covered in shadows from the brim of my hat, as my head was tilted downward.

"Zander…" he heard me uttering his name and looked up at me. As I raised my head, my eyes burned with anger, and I think I might've seem fire behind me. "_**BURN IT! BURN IT TO ASHES!**_" Although he was slightly freaked out, I could tell, he obeyed, shooting a powerful Ember from his toothy mouth. The Magnet pokemon didn't stand a chance: it was knocked out in one hit. I hear a sharp intake of breath from Nick: super-effective or not, it should've taken at least more than one Ember to take it out. I paid no attention to the logic-defying moment, as I was too busy glaring at the evil thing with all the malice in me. _Serves the evil thing right. _

"D-dammit! How could you two have lost!" He looked at his pokeballs in anger and shock.

"We're making you stronger, and soon! He simply stalked off, not even looking at me. "Hey, Jamie," he called back.

"What?"

"This isn't over." And with that, he left, walking off into the forest.

Ella, who had been quiet the whole time, finally spoke up.

"Wow, what a dick."

"Y-yeah, no kidding. I mean, what kind of trainer would have a _Magnemite_? Disgusting abomination…"

"Um, you got something against Magnemite?" I turned to face her, the fire in my eyes once more.

"They are _evil creatures_, sent by Arceus to punish the world's sinners and test the trainers."

"Ooookay. Anyway, we should go get your pokemon healed, then take on the Gym!"

**Author's Note:**

***I really hope someone gets that reference.**

** Yes, I hate Magnemites. With all my heart. THEY ARE **_**EVIL**_**.And yeah, all of Nick's pokemon are going to be ones that I really hate. I don't really HATE Swamper, but it's my least favorite Water starter. And yes, Nick is the Green-esque rival I was talking about. Actually, he's more Silver than Green. No, he will not be one of Jamie's three traveling companions. The next of those will come in pretty soon, like after the first Gym or so.**

**Thanks for reading! If I made any mistakes, please tell me, and constructive criticism is always appreciated. Sayonara!**


	7. Midori Gym

_**Chapter 7: Midori Gym**_

After healing our pokemon and a bit of yelling at the Trollceptionst, we were finally prepared to take on the Midori Gym!

"So, you don't know what the Gym Leader's type speciality is?" I asked, slightly scared to challenge a Gym without any sort of knowledge about what type I should look out for.

Ella just shook her head. "Nope. Levy used to be a Grass specialist, but she retired. I don't really know what the type would be now. Maybe Flying, what with the trees and windmills?"

"Yeah, maybe. Guess we'll find out pretty soon." As we walked into the Gym our question was promptly answered. There were honeycombs lining the at least 30ft. walls that had platforms on an irregular basis with the Gym trainers waiting to challenge us and a huge platform at the top, where I assumed the Gym Leader was. The floor we were standing on was made of… webs?

"A bug type gym, huh? This'll be easy enough with Zander." Ella nodded.

"Lucky. I've just got Fairies, and although Bug isn't very effective on it, I don't have any super-effective moves. But I think I can still pull through after all the training we did on Route 2."

We started climbing the walls. They were sticky enough to hold us, but we could easily pull our hands and feet out, and there was nothing left on our limbs, fortunately. As Ella pointed out, that much honey would be a pain to get rid of. Even self-cleaning clothes had their limits. Although we were challenged by some gym trainers, the two of us made our way up the honeycombs quickly enough, with rest breaks at the platforms. With little trouble, a good bit of experience, and one trip back to the PC, we were at the Gym Leader's platform, who…

Wasn't there. I blinked in confusion while Ella looked around the 20ft. diameter circle. Suddenly, we heard a noise from even higher above us, even though there were only about twenty more feet to the ceiling. To the west of the main platform, we saw an alcove touching the ceiling in the tree's wood with a man standing inside it. Before we could say anything he just yelled "_**Dramatic...**_

And then he jumped all 50 feet to the floor. Ella screamed, but I, being the incredible, emotionally stable guy I am, just looked down at the falling figure with a shocked, yet dignified expression (fine, maybe I screamed a little bit. Just a little bit!). But he just bounced off the webbed floor like an enormous trampoline, rocketing up to us, and somehow landing perfectly after a few flips.

"_**Entrance!**_" he finished. The man was wearing a brown aviator's jacket and cap. He had black hair that was just barely visible under the cap and blue eyes, and he looked to be in his early 20s. Ella and I just stood there gawking at this insane man. He simply looked at us and smiled.

"Hello, challengers! I am the Leader of this Gym, Crombie!*1 I see that there are two of you! Which one of you kids would like to battle me first?" he asked like nothing happened. Although we were still practically in shock, and Ella looked like she had a minor heart attack, we looked at each other.

"You can go first," she said to me. "My nerves are too frazzled to battle well right now."

"A-alright! Leader Crombie of the Midori Gym, I challenge you!" He smiled again.

"Great! I'm positively buzzing with excitement! But before we get too riled up, we must decide the rules. How many pokemon do you have with you?"

"Two."

"Alrighty then, this will be a two-on-two battle with no switching allowed. Are you ready?"  
"Yes!"

"Wonderful! Let's get started!"

It was a pretty good battle, with his Yanma named Buzzkill being defeated by Dagan, who was almost immediately knocked out by SlugBug the Heracross. There was a close fight between the Bug-type and Zander after that, but we managed to pull through with a critical hit Ember.

"Excellently done, trainer! You have earned the Arthropod Badge through and through! Your pokemon have inspired me to train even harder and make my entrances even more dramatic!"

"N-no! If your entrances are any _more_ dramatic, you'll kill yourself!"

"Of course I won't. But I digress; young lady! You would also like a battle, would you not?"

Ella nodded with a determined look on her face. "Absolutely! But if you need to heal your pokemon, I can wait."

"Most gracious of you, young lady. I shall return in only few minutes." Crombie took a deep breath. "_**Dramatic…**_"

Ella gasped, looking terrified for a moment. "Oh my Arceus not again-"

"_**EXIT!**_" He jumped once more, falling down to the webs and bouncing back up to the little alcove where we first saw him. He went farther in to where we couldn't see, presumably healing his pokemon.

"Oh, right! Good job, Jamie! I'm so proud of you!"

"Thanks! Got a strategy for when you fight?"

"Not particularly, but I trust my pokemon. And maybe I can turn the tables in my favor."

"Huh? What do you-"

"_**Dramatic…**_"

"Ah! Not this again!" Ella said, covering her eyes as Crombie jumped from the alcove, fell to the webs, and bounced up to us.

"_**Entrance!**_ I am prepared to do battle once more! Now then, do you understand the rules, young lady?"

Ella's smiled serenely, and I could tell she was planning something. "Actually, do you think we could have a double battle?"

"Well… I suppose there is no good reason not too." Crombie said, blinking in surprise. "This shall be a two-on-two double battle. Are you prepared?"

"Yup!"

At first, I was slightly worried for Ella. Her Cleffa wasn't that strong, even if it was her starter, and I wasn't sure it could defeat her Heracross. She might've had a type advantage, but SlugBug's one strong Bug type, as I saw when he fought Zander. But she quickly proved me wrong to worry. As Crombie sent out his two pokemon, Ella sent out her Luna and a Marill named Zoey. At first, the battle seemed relatively even, but Ella quickly Charmed the Heracross to lower its Attack, and it was all downhill from there for Crombie. In only a minute or so, Luna and Zoey's teamwork along with Ella strategies won them the Arthropod Badge.

"Well done, young lady! It's been a long time since I was defeated so smoothly. You are truly deserving of this Badge! Ah, that reminds me. Are the two of you traveling together?" We nodded.

"Excellent! Please take this T.M.; it contains Struggle Bug, a move with low BP, but it lowers the Special Attack of the pokemon it is used on. Please, take it and bring your pokemon to even greater heights with it!"

I was shocked that he would just hand over a T.M. like that, but I wasn't about to refuse. "Thank you! We'll use it well!" I promised.

"Excellent! I suppose I shall see you around! _**Dramatic… Exit!**_" And with that, he jumped and was gone. A convenient warp panel that I thought was just part of the floor started shining, allowing us to simply step on it and be transported down to the floor instead of having to climb back down.

"Wow, that was a great fight! Crombie's an impressive trainer, dont'cha think?" asked Ella.

"Yeah. I hope we can see him again."

Although I was calm on the outside, I my head was spinning with thoughts. _Wow! We really made it past the first Gym! I wonder if the rest of the journeys going to go by this fast… Well, I sure hope not!_

**Author's Note:**

**First of all, I'm REALLY sorry for not updating in so long. Very very sorry. But I was busy, and I had to make many story choices, and I wrote another fic and… yeah, I have no good excuse. Oh well, I'm back!**

**Anyway, I have decided to change Copper's name to James a.k.a. Jamie. He has no relation to anime James. At all. Why? I dunno, I just think it fits him better. Oh, and I took out the dream, just because the side-plot I had created wasn't going to work out.**

**Also, I have decided that unless it's a very important fight, I won't describe it in detail. I'll probably just say the general strategies and important moves or stuff like that, but nothing else unless it's important.**

**And finally, I just realized that I never showed Jamie and Ella eating. O well, you can just assume they were. They were eating animal products, by the way. Animals DO exist, but they're extinct in the wild and are only used as food.**

**And that's all I have to say for now. Thanks for reading, I'll update soon, and sayonara.**


	8. Midori Forest Part 1

_**Chapter 8: Midori Forest Part 1**_

"Augh! When are we getting out of this Arceus-forsaken death trap?! No… I can see… a bright… light…"

"Ella, we've only been here a couple minutes."

After healing our pokemon and definitely not yelling at the roboceptionist, we went out into the Midori Forest, which we needed to get through before getting to Chaiiro City. The forest itself is actually pretty huge, but there's a simple path that cuts through, making it a lot easier than just walking through the Forest at random. Of course, that's not saying much. A walk through the Distortion World would've been easier than going through these woods. There were random cocoon pokemon (Kakuna, Metapod, Cascoon, Silkoon, Sewpa, you know the drill) everywhere, _tons_ of poison oak/ivy/sumac/I don't even _know_, and _roots. Roots everywhere._ And naturally, I tripped on ALL OF THEM, being the coordinated, skilled, and capable trainer I am. There weren't even any good trees to climb!

But we needed to get through it, and we did so without complaint. Well, _mostly_ without complaint.

"Ugh, I forgot how much I _hated _this place. *_Sigh.*_ Oh well. Hey, why don't we let our pokemon out for a while? I'm pretty sure a clearing's coming up, and they'd no doubt like the fresh air."

"Good idea! C'mon out, guys!" As I released Zander and Dagan, Ella let out Zoey and Luna. They were happy to e let out for a while, but Dagan must've heard something with those enormous earms of his, poking my leg and motioning for me to turn around.

"Hey! I challenge you!" a trainer of maybe 11 said, coming up behind us.

"Uh, which one?" asked Ella.

"I dunno, either of you! Just fight me, my pokemon need some experience!"

"I'll do it, Elle."

"Kay then. Be sure to win, I don't want to have to go through all this again!"

"I-I'll try."

The kid was actually pretty good, Using a Butterfree to give my pokemon status conditions and a Pikachu to do some damage. We fought hard, but were defeated in the end, causing me to black out and somehow appear back at the PC with Ella next to me.

"I told you to win!"

"Sorry! We tried!"

"I know, I'm just kidding. But dang, that kid was pretty good. I'd like to fight him when we get out there next."

Needless to say, it was a long trip back to the entrance to the clearing. This time, our pokemon were out, so we could at least "talk" to them while walking. Zander accidentally set a tree on fire, but Zoey put it out before any real damage was done, lightly bopping him on the head to say "be more careful!" Or so I assumed. eh, who knows what pokemon say to each other?

_Zander POV_

As Jamie was talking with Ella, I was trying to get to know Dagan a bit better.

"Sooo… how's life?"

He shrugged. "Can't complain, I guess. Trainer seems like he'll make me strong, so I'll stick with 'im."

"Why do you care so much about being strong? There's more to this journey, you know."

"Maybe for you, pyro. I got one reason, and that's all."

"And what is that reason?"

"Gettin' strong."

"Whatever. To each his/her own."

"Yeah? Well, what's your reason, Cinderella*?"

"Well… I don't really know. I mean, I guess I'd want to help Trainer be the Champion…"

"More to this journey, my fluffy gray ass. You don't even know _what_ you want from this. I might have a single, cliche goal, but at least I know what my goal is."

"Well maybe that's what this is for, figuring out goals! I could be a battler, or a Ranger's pokemon, or a Champion's, or whatever. This journey is meant for _growth_. For me, that means my fleeting dreams and ideas growing into achievable goals."

"An' for me it means my level, stats, and moveset _growin'_."

"_*Sigh.*_ Well, good luck."

"Same to you, friend."

After talking with Dagan, I looked over at Zoey and Luna, who were talking to each other. Wanting to get to know them better, I walked over.

"Um, hi. Sorry if our meeting wasn't exactly ideal, Miss Zoey, but I'd really like to get to know you two better if we're going to be traveling together." I said, slightly nervous.

"Aw, well aren't you a cutie," giggled Zoey. "It's no problem. I should probably practice putting fires out anyway."

"Really? Why?"

"Well, I always enjoy double battles, and that could help when protecting my partner. Also, it's always just a good skill to have in life."

"Oh… that's true."

"Yeah…"

The conversation topic slowly dwindled as we just looked at each other, not sure what to say or even if we should say anything at all. Suddenly, Luna burst out laughing.

"Y-you two… Arceus, you're so AWKWARD!" she said through fits of laughter. "Just talk, huh? It's not that difficult."

Realizing the truth in Luna's statement, I turned to the Marill. "Yeah, that was pretty awkward."

She nodded in fervent agreement. "Indubitably.

"Well, one way or another, it's nice to meet you!"

"You too."

"And don't forget about me!" Luna chimed in.

I smiled at her. "It's nice to meet you too, Luna."

Suddenly, I realized that while we were jabbering mindlessly, are trainers had all moved on ahead.

"Hey, wait up!" I called after them, despite knowing that they would only hear a bunch of "char"s and "mander"s.

_Luna and Zoey POV_

_ Damn… that is one sexy Charmander._

**Author's Note:**

** I'm back! After a long time… But oh well! And this time, I bring you multiple POVs! **

** First of all, Crombie's name is a combination of "comb" like honeycomb, and "bee," like the insect.**

**Ella (Wow, I can't believe I've forgotten to explain this so many times) is a little more tricky. You know how Fairies are kind of celestial, or at least more so than the other types (except Psychic, of course)? Well, it sounds like "Stella," which means star. (Some side info: at first, I had planned for Ella to have more of a "space" theme, but I changed it to a "princess" theme. Hint! Her princessyness is a hint to her character development) And it just sounds like a princessy name to me.**

** Zoey's nickname is just based off a**_**ZU**_**marill. Also, it just felt like it fit her.**

**Luna's nickname should be pretty obvious.**

**If anyone has an OC trainer idea, feel free to tell me about him/her. I won't make him/her one of the four main characters, but I could probably fit him/her into an event I have planned later on that will involve a LOT of trainers.**

** And yes, I will put in an evil team later. Very soon, actually.**

***1: As in "Cinder"**

***2: They do not share a mind or anything, they were just thinking the same thing at the same time**

** Thanks for reading this! If you liked it, Follow, Fav, or review. Constructive criticism is always welcome!**


End file.
